Problems Solved
by PrimeEmily135
Summary: After "Legacy" Arcee is frustrated with all the mechs and human boys and decides to go for a drive to clear her head. When she gets back she receives a little comfort from the person she is most upset about. One-shot.


S**o last night I watched the new episode of transformers prime "Legacy" and I thought up this one-shot. Enjoy :)**

**I own nothing Transformers Prime. **

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Arcee stormed down the hall, wishing she could just scream! It just hadn't been her day, not at all. She was tired, sore, frustrated and jealous. It wasn't a very good combination for her after a long day of fighting Decepticons and worrying about Jack.

When Optimus said that he was receiving a message from Alfa Trion that had just thrown her for another loop. She knew it was a good thing but every circuit of her body was upset by it. She knew that Optimus would be completely consumed now, practically dead to them until needed.

She screamed in frustration when she was far enough away from everyone else. She shouldn't be concerned about her stupid emotions when Jack was starting to turn down a bad path. He was vandalizing personal property of both the school bully and his boss! His Boss! He was going to get himself fired!

She kicked the wall, leaving a very pointy dent as she rounded the corner. And Smokescreen! He was just about as mature as a sparkling! And he was being a horrible example to Jack! She just couldn't take his constant ability to annoy anymore, she had to get away.

Driving was one of the few ways she could ever find some peace. And going at top speeds down long winding roads was even better. The wind rushing past her helped rid her of any problems she was having. But she knew in the back of her mind that when she stopped, her problems would still be there waiting for her.

She turned sharply down a crossroad and sped up the slight hill. Tonight she wanted to drive her wheels into the pavement. She wanted to go until she couldn't anymore! She would do anything she could to forget all about recent events.

She drove the long roads, paying attention only to the wind and the stars in the dark sky above her. Her internal clock showed two o'clock before she finally stopped. She slammed on her breaks, forming a long tire mark on the dusty pavement. She stayed there in the middle of the road, listening to the silence.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing. No sound except that of the stray wind. No light except that of the stars. No living creature to be seen. And no troubles.

Her processor finally stopped racing, her mind finally at peace. Sure, Jack might get fired but those were the consequences of his stupid actions. (Who in their right mind would shove pizza up their boss's exhaust pipe? She knew she wouldn't. Optimus would have her hide!)

And Smokescreen would learn. No matter how painstakingly long or hard it was, he would learn to put humans' safety above his own and he would grow up... Eventually.

She transformed, walking into the dirt, causing small dirt clouds to stir up. It was a pretty sight in a way, the way the moon seeped through the dust clouds to shine on her feet.

She vented sadly, realizing that her processor was not at peace yet. She knew it never would be fully. It just wasn't possible, because she never stopped thinking about him...

Optimus Prime was a great leader, and he was an even greater friend. He was strong, brave, and loyal to no end. He always thought about others, never thinking of himself. He wore a mask to hide his true emotions but those closest to him could still read him well.

She growled, becoming frustrated again. She'd give almost anything to be that close to him. She could only see a few sides to her leader, and those views were very limited. She understood him, but she didn't know him. And she feared she never would.

Driving back to base was a little more relaxed but still at an increased speed. Upon entering the main room she quietly transformed, mindful that the others were recharging.

She started off to her quarters down the hall when a blue glowing caught her optic. She glanced at the door to Optimus Prime's berth room, which was left wide open.

Her leader sat on his berth, staring intently at the large sword in his servos. His optics seemed glued to it, and his body unmoving, not even breathing. The bluish glow of the sword cast shadows in him and in every other direction, giving the room an eery, mournful appearance.

Regaining herself, she was about to move on to her room until she heard him say her name, softly, almost whispering. She saw his optics move to her and she froze, loosing herself once again as she looked at him.

They locked gazes for a moment before he vented and set the sword across his knees. "Would you like to come in?" he offered, his voice deep and kind, full of understanding.

She felt a little unsure, not used to an open invitation from him for a personal one on one conversation. But she slowly entered, hovering in his doorway until he beckoned her in further.

She stood before him, awkwardly feeling like she should just leave, feeling rather intrusive. His privacy was something she never wanted to intrude on, and he seemed a bit deep in thought at the moment. "I should probably leave..." she turned for the door, but stopped when his voice filled the silent room.

"Please stay." it was not an order but a request. His voice was rather pleading but when she turned back to him his optics were trained on the sword once again. He motioned to the berth, patting a section next to him. "Sit."

She complied, settling down a little ways away from him, respectfully looking at the ground. "Couldn't sleep?" she tried to make conversation, only to cringe at his level toned answer.

"It is rather hard to recharge when my best soldier is out on her own in the middle of the night." he looked at her sideways, noticing her ashamed look. He vented again, slowly closing his optics. "But that wasn't why I am still up. I have been pondering recent events, and they are disturbing me."

She mentally hit herself for thinking he had been worried about her. she hadn't intended for him to, but it would have been nice. "Have you tried going for a drive? That works most of the time."

He nodded slowly. "I did. But I just could not stop thinking about... this." he held the sword up again, running his servo down the beautiful edge.

She looked at it in wonder. It was amazing how such a powerful thing could be so attractive to the eye. But when she thought about it, she was attracted to a lot of powerful things, and beings. Her servo reached out instinctively to touch the blade, but held back when her processor caught up with her.

The Prime gave her a tired half smile, a rare sight to see on him. "Go ahead." he encouraged, and she ran her fingertips down its sleek surface. "It is magnificent, isn't it?" he mused, practically lost in it. She nodded, but knew he probably hadn't see her.

Her gaze drifted over him, letting his appearance soak in. He looked exhausted, his armor scratched and ruined, but his strong frame remained intact. He sat with his shoulders slumped, letting down his air of command. He was a magnificent thing, a Titan amongst the rest of them. The toughest of them all, yet his mask seemed to melt away as he held the sword of Solace Prime. He was transfixed in it. Lost to the world.

He was a beautiful being, although she would never say that aloud to anyone. When he let his guard down he was just a normal mech, a librarian at heart with a passion to learn. And at the moment he wanted to know everything of the weapon in his possession.

She sighed, feeling jealousy creeping up in her spark again. What she would give for him to look at her that way. For him to want to know everything about her. But he wouldn't. He was a Prime, and his emotions were blocked off from her.

She stood again, starting for the door as quickly as possible so he wouldn't see the tears of disappointment forming in her optics. "Goodnight Optimus."

"Is something bothering you Arcee?" he looked up at her, putting the sword aside, seemingly forgotten as he got up to join her. He stood beside her, looking down upon her with a gentler understanding gaze.

"I'm fine." she tried to push past him to the door but he simply walked with her back out into the hall.

"Arcee, come with me." he reached forward, taking her smaller servo in his larger one.

"What?" her optics searched his for some answer to his change in actions. A moment ago he was lost to her, now it seemed she was the center of his attention.

He lead her silently outside to the cliff top that overlooked the desert. She could feel his optics on her the whole way, feeling them burn into her soul.

When they stopped outside he knelt down beside her. "Arcee, you can tell me anything. Something is bothering you, I can tell. Will you let me share your burden?"

She shook her head. "You carry too many burdens as it is Optimus, you don't new to know my troubles as well. They are rather silly and insignificant compared to everything else going on."

He tilted her face up to look at him capturing her gaze in his, captivating her. "Every care should be given some concern, no matter how small or insegnificant it may be. Every trouble should be resolved and taken care of. And if you are not feeling well something must be wrong. Let me right it." he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers, coming off as a little affectionate. "Arcee, you drive to blow away your troubles. You were gone for hours. Tell me what is bothering you."

She didn't know how to respond. He was asking her to tell him what she was feeling, but what she was feeling she could never tell him. She couldn't say that she was jealous of a sword because of the way he looked at it, touched it, held it. She couldn't tell him that she was lonely and felt unwanted, uninteresting and cast aside by every mech she had ever known. She couldn't possibly tell him any of that!

She looked down at the ground finally, feeling completely humiliated inside. She knew he was only trying to help, but he had no idea how bad he was making it. She wished she could just flee, flee from him and never have to deal with the constant emotional turmoil he caused inside her spark. But she couldn't.

"It's nothing!" she insisted, but her voice cracked in despair and she started to cry. She collapsed to her knees, letting her tears trail down her face and through her fingers to the dirt ground. For a moment she thought and hoped that he would leave her, but he didn't. He bent over to pick her up and held her against his chest comfortingly. In his embrace she cried out all the tears she had been holding back for so long. Her tears stained his chest, but he held onto her tightly, stroking her back comfortingly until her sobs quieted.

"Arcee, tell me what is bothering you." he whispered into her audio receptors, his voice oddly husky. She pressed herself into his chest, unsure how to say no. She couldn't say yes, it just wouldn't be proper. She would be acting just as childish as Smokescreen. But the way he held her, the closeness that she was feeling, it was all overwhelming to her.

"Optimus..." she saw his optics focas on her and she felt herself shrink under his gaze. Those optics... Those optics! Why did they have to be so... amazing? She wanted to pull away from him, to do the right thing and just leave. Primes couldn't have romantic attachments, why tempt him? He was still a mech after all, he wasn't dead to emotion. He simply had to repress them.

But she couldn't pull herself away. She was still a femme, the war hadn't changed that. She felt deep down in her spark, a horrible neediness. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable like that but it was the honest truth to her. She needed someone to care. She needed him to care about her more then just one of his soldiers. She just wanted to be seen for what she was.

She slowly separated from him, wiping the lingering tears away as he looked at her expectantly. She steadied herself with a deep breath. She had to say something, he had that stubborn mech look that said he wouldn't leave her alone until she spilled what was on her mind.

"I just feel overwhelmed, okay?" she said quietly, not looking at him directly. "A lot has been going on lately and it's just... hard..." she saw his expression soften in understanding and he even nodded slightly. "Ever since Smokescreen showed up, things have been hectic... I'm just tired of it all."

"He has a good spark, and even better intensions. Give him some time and he will learn how to cooperate with the rest of us. He just needs some guidance and teaching." he followed her pacing with his optics, not moving from where he stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "That's not all that is stressing you, is it?" he seemed almost able to read her mind.

She shook her head, giving in. "No, it's not. I just can't tell you everything." she avoided his gaze, it was kind but stern, and a little confused. He often told her that she could confide in him, the last time being when they were about to die in the arctic.

A strange warm feeling started to heat up in her chest at the thought of that day. It was the first time he confided in her. An it had made her do happy she wouldn't have cared if she off-lined there, as long as she was with him.

"There are just some things you can't know." she tried to reason with him, but it made his gaze narrow on her. She looked away quickly, averting her gaze to the heavens.

She heard his heavy footsteps as he joined her at her side. "What do you mean by that? Are you afraid I might be judgmental?" she rolled her optics, that wasn't even the half of it. "You know I am not that way, if you are playing that card something must really be wrong."

She screamed finally, letting her aggravations out in that drawn out sound of agony. "I'm emotional okay? I'm lonely! I need someone else with emotions, not a bunch of mechs who don't seem to have any emotions at all!" she waved in his direction as she said this, feeling more tears start to fill her optics. "And the rest of you guys don't seem to even notice that I'm a femme! Is it so much to ask to be noticed for what I am once in a while?"

"Arcee..." his expression changed from shocked confusion to that of a gentle understanding. But she turned away from him, storming ever so much closer to the cliff edge.

She felt so alone in the world. It seemed everyone she had ever cared about ended up scrapped because of the Decepticons! Her first Sparkmate Tailgate had perished right in front of her optics. Then Cliffjumper, the mech that showed her how to cope with the past and helped her feel cared for again, he was turned into a mindless brute! She couldn't take the loss well, and even though Jack had helped her through it she felt empty inside. She felt worthless, like she could jump off of the cliff right in front of her and nobody would care. Like they would be better off without her...

"I'm tired if feeling left behind. I'm sick of feeling like my very existence is to be tortured! I'm tired of loving a mech that can't feel. And I'm sick of holding all these things inside, wrestling them until I fall apart!" she looked down the cliff edge wondering if a fall from this hight would really kill her, knowing her luck it probably wouldn't and she would be stuck in the med-bay for three months under constant suicide watch...

"Arcee." he seemed to sense her thoughts of jumping, and he pulled her away from the edge gently. He knelt down in front of her so that they were at the same level with each other. His optics were a window into his racing processor, and she could see that he was desperately trying to think of some way to comfort her. But he was clueless it seemed. "Arcee, I... I'm sorry. I never knew you felt that way."

She tried to pry herself away, she didn't want him to see her. She felt like an unfixable problem to him. "Just leave me alone." she begged, but his servos stayed planted firmly around her arms. It was clear he was't going to let her go until he was sure she wasn't going to jump off of the cliff, which she wouldn't but he didn't know that.

"Arcee..." his voice was soft and inviting, but she refused to look up at him. She wished so badly that she had just kept driving and never came back. His grip in her softened and he tilted her chin up so he could look into her optics.

Her tears started to spill when she saw the kind look of care in his face. He caressed her face, wiping away her bright blue tears. His voice was searching for words, she could see it in his optics, but they were slow to form.

"Arcee, I care about you." he started, fingering her small winglets. "I see you for the beautiful femme you are, and the gorgeous spark underneath." he tilted her face up to his just a little bit more, fleetingly looking into her optics before leaning over to slowly kiss her. He was hesitant, but when his lips met hers it was the most sincere thing she had felt in a very long time. And she felt herself melt when it ended. He held her close to him resting his helm against hers with the faintest of smiles.

Her voice seemed to have left her momentarily after his lips graced her. She simply looked into his optics as he whispered to her. "Although it is uncustomary for a Prime to show emotions such as-" he paused, searching for the right word, "affection... You should know that I have always cared." he held her face between his servos, caressing her lips with his thumb.

"Optimus..." she breathed his name. She wanted to tell him how grateful she was for his understanding but before she could utter another word his lips met with hers again. It was longer and fuller than the first but equally gentle.

She bit down on his lower lip softly before he moved away. It had been a very enjoyable contact, but it hadn't been near long enough to satisfy her, or him for that matter it seemed. His optics held a yearning for her, a passion she had never seen in him before. But he restrained himself, even of it pained him to.

She felt the cold air against her as he pulled away, and she shivered. He looked down at her regretfully, his bright blue optics sad. "We should go inside." he stated, but was unmoving.

She nodded, but she didn't want to go. She knew that the minute they went back inside things would go back to normal and he would become his usual closed off self. So she shuffled her feet, hoping with every ounce that he wouldn't leave so soon. And he didn't.

"Arcee, may I-"

She jumped into his arms one last time, kissing him. "Yes." she felt him hold her protectively as their lip lock continued, his fingers itching to explore her but he resisted the urge. Her optics shut as he broke the contact, trailing small kisses down her neck.

Finally separated for the final time, she went back inside without a regret. Her spark felt light and she felt happy.

When she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling she found that her troubles were not bothering her at all anymore. Smokescreen would learn his place, and Jack would be fine as long as he learned his lesson. And her spark soared when she thought of Optimus. They hadn't said that they loved each other, but he cared, and that was enough for now.

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**Please leave a review. :)**


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